Trailing by a goal at the second intermission, the Topeka RoadRunners needed just 46 seconds to find the equalizer and snatch the momentum from the Amarillo Bulls.

Nineteen seconds later, all the energy was sucked away, and the RoadRunners never got it back.

Topeka tied the game at 2 on a goal from Daniel Rzavsky, but Amarillo quickly answered with a goal from Mitchell McPherson and tacked on two more insurance goals to take a 5-2 victory in Game 4 of the NAHL South finals on Friday at Landon Arena.

The series will now head back to Amarillo for the deciding fifth game Monday.

Rzavsky tipped in a perfect pass from Jasen Fernsler to energize the RoadRunners early in the third, but the Bulls jumped back on top after McPherson’s centering pass hit off the shoulder of RoadRunners goalie P.J. Bridges and found the net.

“It certainly wasn’t a good one to give up, and I think that was the nail in the coffin,” RoadRunners coach Scott Langer said. “(Amarillo) played extremely hard and smart tonight, and we just didn’t have any answers.”

A minute and 25 seconds after Amarillo regained the lead, Mitchell Vanderburgh put the Bulls up by two goals before McPherson scored again at the 12:53 mark to seal it.

Langer said it was tough for his team to recover mentally after Amarillo’s quick answer to the game-tying goal.

“Emotionally, you’re trying to battle, and the next thing you know, you give up one right away,” Langer said. “You put yourself in a situation where it’s 2-2 and you should be in good shape, but we had a lull on the bench, and they came back and scored.”

A night after a blown call contributed to an overtime loss to keep the Bulls alive in the series, the RoadRunners struck first Friday after Cody Champagne fired a shot through traffic to cash in a power play at the 13:28 mark of the first period.

Amarillo knotted the score at 6:15 of the second when Brady Ferguson tapped one in off a pass from Kyle Gattelaro. The Bulls then took charge after a Topeka turnover enabled a three-on-one rush, setting up a goal from Eric Purcell that put Amarillo in front, 2-1, with four minutes left in the second period.

“You can’t continue to give up leads,” Langer said. “We led in both games (in Topeka), and we couldn’t hold on. We couldn’t capitalize. Their goaltending was very good.”

Langer said sloppy puck handling also gave the Bulls way too many chances.

“We didn’t manage the puck well at all,” Langer said. “When other teams come in and you’re not managing the puck, you’re going to have problems.”

RoadRunners forward Tyler Poulsen was ejected with less than two minutes remaining after the officials ruled his hit made head contact with an Amarillo player.

Amarillo goalie Collin Delia was again sharp in net for the Bulls, turning aside 30 of the 32 shots he faced. Bridges stopped 26 of 31 shots.